C1.7.4

The plants that produced the oxygen in the atmosphere probably evolved from simple organisms like plankton and algae in the ancient oceans. But we don't know how the molecules of the simplest living things were formed.

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What was the Miller-Urey experiment

In 1952 two scientists, Miller and Urey, did an experiment based on what scientists at that time thought was in the early atmosphere. They used a mixture of water, ammonia, methane and hydrogen and a high voltage spark to simulate lightning.

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What was the result of the Miller-Urey experiment?

After a week they found that amino acids, the building blocks for proteins, had been produced.

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What was the primordial soup theory?

One theory suggests that the organic materials in the early atmosphere, formed a 'primordial soup' and that the amino acids in this mixture combined to make proteins from what life which life began.

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Why did Miller and Urey use those chemicals for the experiment?

They contain all the elements needed to make amino acids-water(H20) contains hydrogen and oxygen, ammonia(NH3) contains nitrogen and hydrogen, methane(CH4) contains carbon and hydrogen, and hydrogen is hydrogen(H2).

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What was the Miller-Urey experiment

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In 1952 two scientists, Miller and Urey, did an experiment based on what scientists at that time thought was in the early atmosphere. They used a mixture of water, ammonia, methane and hydrogen and a high voltage spark to simulate lightning.